LET’S IMAGINE THAT YOU suddenly come into a lot of money. Perhaps you win a big lottery, or, if you’re not a gambler, a rich relative dies and you were her favorite nephew. After Uncle Sam has taken his cut, you’re still sitting on a nest egg that allows you to spend as much as you want on your favorite hobby, coin collecting. What would you buy?
If you’re partial to gold, I’m going to suggest a couple of sets you might think of collecting. Specifically, I’m talking about $3 and $4 gold pieces.
These are odd denominations, and you might wonder what their purpose was. Did anyone really need a $3 or $4 gold piece at the time they were minted?
Three-dollar gold pieces were minted from 1854 through 1889. With postage pegged at 3 cents for a prepaid letter, the silver 3 cent piece was expected to be used to purchase stamps without resorting to the use of heavy and often filthy large cents. According to Breen’s Complete Encyclopedia of United States Coins, “Congressmen believed that [a $3 gold piece] would be convenient for exchange for rolls or small bags of silver 3c pieces, and for buying sheets of 3c stamps. . ..”
U.S. Mint engraver James B. Longacre, of Indian cent fame, used what was supposed to be the profile of an Indian Princess for the obverse. In reality, this was just another version of “Liberty” crowned with
